Radiance Of Tomorrow

Product Details

A haunting, beautiful first novel by the bestselling author of A Long Way Gone.

“Every story begins and ends with a woman, a mother, a grandmother, a girl, a child. Every story is a birth…”

So begins Radiance of Tomorrow, Ishmael Beah''s first novel, one dogged by memories of horror but glimmering with an improbable hope. When Beah ’ s memoir, A Long Way Gone, was published in 2007, it soared to the top of bestseller lists, becoming an instant classic: a harrowing account of Sierra Leone ’ s civil war and the fate of child soldiers that “ everyone in the world should read ” (Carolyn See, The Washington Post). Now Beah, whom Dave Eggers has called “ arguably the most read African writer in contemporary literature, ” has returned with an affecting, tender parable about postwar life in those regions of Africa still reeling from conflict.

At the center of Radiance of Tomorrow are Benjamin and Bockarie, two longtime friends who return to their hometown, Imperi, after a devestating civil war. The village is in ruins, the ground covered in bones and drenched in deep despair. The war may be over, but the denizens of Imperi are not spared the dangers that hover over them, menacing as vengeful ghosts. As more villagers begin to come back, Benjamin and Bockarie try to forge a new community by taking up their former posts as teachers, but they ’ re beset by obstacles: a scarcity of food; a rash of murders, thievery, rape, and retaliation; and the depredations of a foreign mining company intent on sullying the town ’ s water supply and blocking its paths with electric wires. As Benjamin and Bockarie search for a way to restore order, they ’ re forced to reckon with the uncertainty of their past and future alike.

With the gentle lyricism of a dream and the moral clarity of a fable, Radiance of Tomorrow is a powerful novel about preserving what means the most to us, even in uncertain times. If A Long Way Gone taught us to mourn the crimes of yesterday, Radiance of Tomorrow introduces us to a people who must survive their guilt and accept tomorrow, with all its promise—and radiance.

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Reviews

Rated 4 out of
5 by
Chihoe_Ho from
A future full of hope"Radiance of Tomorrow" alludes to more than just a new hope the future brings. It speaks to the hardships tomorrow might come with, and the human courage and determination it takes to face such challenges. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, sometimes it just takes some detours to get there. It takes a little while warming up to the words. You get what Ishmael Beah is trying to convey but because his wording and sentence structures are not typical to an "English" novel, which he acknowledges wanting to write with his voice, and his people's consciousness and Mende language, in his note to readers, it starts off quite jarringly to what one is used to. But by 10 pages, I was fully immersed in Beah's words and world, never able to shake off the eagerness of wanting to turn a page. This resulted in reading most of the book in one sitting. The story told is powerful and compelling. It was intriguing to read of what happens after a war and see it from the other side of the lens - how its people have to piece their lives back together from almost nothing, and deal with external influences beyond their control. At the core of "Radiance of Tomorrow" is its character piece. Beah has a village of multi-faceted characters - each with their own strengths and weaknesses, each developed in its own way. It is through knowing them that makes the novel such a grounded and humanistic read, one that will appeal to readers who found Beah's memoir "A Long Way Gone" and Katherine Boo's "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" rewarding and informative.

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From the Publisher

A haunting, beautiful first novel by the bestselling author of A Long Way Gone.

&ldquo;Every story begins and ends with a woman, a mother, a grandmother, a girl, a child. Every story is a birth&hellip;&rdquo;

So begins Radiance of Tomorrow, Ishmael Beah''s first novel, one dogged by memories of horror but glimmering with an improbable hope.&#160;When Beah &rsquo; s memoir,&#160;A Long Way Gone, was published in 2007, it soared to the top of bestseller&#160; lists, becoming an instant classic: a harrowing account of Sierra Leone &rsquo; s civil war and the fate of&#160; child soldiers that &ldquo; everyone in the world should read &rdquo; (Carolyn See,&#160;The Washington Post). Now Beah, whom&#160; Dave Eggers has called&#160; &ldquo; arguably the most read African writer in contemporary literature, &rdquo; has&#160; returned with an affecting, tender parable about postwar life in those regions of Africa still reeling from conflict.

At the center of Radiance of Tomorrow are Benjamin and Bockarie, two longtime friends who&#160; return to their hometown, Imperi, after a devestating civil war. The village is in ruins, the ground covered&#160; in bones and drenched in deep despair. The war may be over, but the denizens of Imperi are not spared the dangers that hover over them, menacing as vengeful ghosts. As more villagers begin to come back, Benjamin and Bockarie try to forge a new community&#160; by taking up their former posts as teachers, but they &rsquo; re beset by obstacles: a scarcity of&#160; food; a rash of murders, thievery, rape, and retaliation; and the depredations of a foreign mining&#160; company intent on sullying the town &rsquo; s water supply and blocking its paths with electric wires.&#160; As Benjamin and Bockarie search for a way to restore order, they &rsquo; re forced to reckon with the&#160; uncertainty of their past and future alike.

With the gentle lyricism of a dream and the moral clarity of a fable, Radiance of Tomorrow is a&#160; powerful novel about preserving what means the most to us, even in uncertain times. If A&#160;Long Way Gone taught us to mourn the crimes of yesterday, Radiance of Tomorrow introduces us to a people who must survive their guilt and accept tomorrow, with all its promise&mdash;and radiance.

About the Author

Ishmael Beah &#160;was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. He came to the United States when he was seventeen and graduated from Oberlin College in 2004. He is a UNICEF&#160;Ambassador and Advocate for Children Affected by War, a member of the Human Rights Watch Children''s Rights Advisory Committee, and president of the Ishmael Beah Foundation. He lives with his wife in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter @Ishmael Beah.

Editorial Reviews

“I really admire the uncompromising bravery of this book. Ishmael Beah has written a novel that moves between forms—part fable, part family epic, part poem. He doesn''t shy away from the horror, nor does he forget that the true function of storytelling is its ability to break our hearts. Reminiscent of Ben Okri and Chinua Achebe, Beah manages to lift the curtain on a world we cannot affort to flinch from.” - Colum McCann, National Book Award–winning author of TransAlantic and Let the Great World Spin “Everyone in the world should read this book. Not just because it contains an amazing story, or because it''s our moral, bleeding-heart duty, or because it''s clearly written. We should read it to learn about the world and about what it means to be human.” - Carolyn See, The Washington Post “No outsider could have written this book, and it''s hard to imagine that many insiders could do so with such acute vision, stark language, and tenderness. It is a heartrending achievement.” - Melissa Fay Greene, Elle “Those seeking to understand the human consequences of war, its brutal and brutalizing costs, would be wise to reflect on Ishmael Beah''s story.” - Chuck Leddy, The Philadelphia Inquirer “ Radiance of Tomorrow is . . . a rare look at the phenomena of homecoming and reclamation, written with the moral urgency of a parable and the searing precision of a firsthand account . . . As a reader, you can’t help rootin